A Boston-area researcher who was part of a team that discovered a new species of wasp in Kenya has named the insect Thaumatodryinus tuukkaraski in Rask’s honor.

Robert Copeland, an entomologist at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi who grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, named the wasp after Rask to show his admiration for the player who has “had an outstanding career in one of the most difficult positions in sports,” according to a story in The Boston Globe (http://bit.ly/1JGNte9 ) on Tuesday.

A paper based on the discovery is scheduled to be published in April in the journal Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae.

“This species is named after the acrobatic goaltender for the Finnish National ice hockey team and the Boston Bruins, whose glove hand is as tenacious as the raptorial fore tarsus of this dryinid species,” the authors wrote in the paper.

Also, the project that led to the discovery was underwritten by the government of Finland, Rask’s homeland.

Rask said he has heard of Bruins fans naming their pets after him, but never an entire species.